drawbacks to excellent, fabulous,
Will Travel For Music Festival Trips,
with Bestest Music Friend Ever K is this:
There is a ton of stuff, in piles -
either FORM or laundry format,
waiting for me upon my return.
Plus I am all worn out by the awesome.
And in recent Governor's Ball in NYC,
fabulous music overload with fabulous friend,
involving cars, planes, taxis,
trains, subway,
and FERRY?
(Note: Also tons of walking.
And standing.
Also dancing. Does that count as cardio?)
I arrive home in time for eleventy end of whatever school closings,
requiring my children to sing or play the violin,
plus spring concerts and swim team is starting up,
and WHERE are the goggles???
I buy three billion goggles every summer????
Anyway, frying pan into fire.
I have no time to even see if I got any decent pictures or video,
or remember which bands we saw which day.
All that awesome kind of blurs.
So I do what I always do when I try to remember something,
and I can't figure out where I was when.
I ask myself:
What was I wearing?
I always know what I wore to what place when.
Starting with preschool.
I'm not exaggerating, it is how I remember things.
I certainly am NOT wearing a watch.
Proof:
(http://www.iwantanintern.com/2013/11/no-sorry-i-dont-have-time-or-watch-and.html)
So I remember things via sartorial evidence.
Or what was up with my hair,
if I have to do like the Phone A Friend extra help option.
Hair Evidence is normally not needed because:
1. I remember what I wore when,
am savant.
Wish I had a more useful skill, but I do not.
2. If my hair is bad,
I have most likely thrown away or deleted the picture,
so there aren't many situations I can rely on hair evidence.
I can tell you what I wore for a second grade spelling bee
(pink shirt, pink and green wrap shirt, matching purse).
Or fourth grade first day at a new school
(pink oxford cloth button down shirt, khaki shorts,
barrettes I wove ribbons in to match - I was in a preppy phase.)
Which?
Is way less horrifying than some of my middle school phases,
such as:
1. Strawberry quilted coat, creepy giant old person tinted glasses,
and Michael Jackson gloves,
hiding hideous poison ivy rash,
beginning middle school World's Most Unfortunate Outfit
Proof:
(http://www.iwantanintern.com/2012/08/when-dress-code-includes-math-but.html)
2. Panama hat and white jacket adorned with Duran Duran pins -
homage to one Mr. John Taylor.
This was before I realized -
you weren't necessarily supposed to DRESS like your pretend floppy haired musician boyfriend,
and in fact,
you should probably NEVER do that.
Proof:
(http://www.iwantanintern.com/2012/08/dont-say-prayer-for-me-now-save-it-til.html)
I remember what I was wearing on random occasions,
as well as special days.
I remember what I was wearing last Girl Scout troop meeting,
so I don't repeat my ensemble and make M the eight year old stylist grumpy.
I am like Mnemosyne from Greek mythology,
minus the cool name.
Plus remembering my outfits,
instead of every single thing that happens?
Greek myths may indicate there some Narcissus mixed in.
Fine, whatever.
But?
Back up there?
When I was talking about the music festival?
And how I was trying to remember which bands,
which days,
where was I?
(Note: I do remember what I was originally talking about.
I digress,
will meander down the primrose path,
or yellow brick road,
or streets of Manhattan,
but I will get back to my topic eventually.
I promise.)
Delay in cataloging,
or getting two seconds to blissfully recall the show?
Due to having to pay the piper for being away during crazy,
hectic time of year?
Means I have to piece together which day was which,
and what we saw and did,
based on my outfit.
I know I could just go look at the festival calendar and see who played when,
but that is cheating.
And?
I realize that one of the days,
the We Are Not Messing Around Day?
OOOH!
TANGENT ALERT!!!!
Tangent:
Music Festival Day Categories, by Allison
1. Day One:
Get there,
figure out the lay of the land,
check out bands,
plot best spot for Day Two,
while having excellent day,
involving refreshments and people watching,
as well as music.
This is like, baby pool.
Bunny Slope.
And also recon mission for Day 2 plotting.
2. Day Two:
Inevitably,
in our various festival experiences,
Day Two is We Are Not Messing Around Day.
Meaning?
We know where the stages are,
and fate/wily music festival people have the lineup we want,
on one stage,
with hours in between,
for us to revel in the grim conditions,
and lack of food, water,
or personal space.
It will be sluggish, hot, stagnant day.
Or rainy and cold, doofuses wielding umbrellas day.
Pick your extremely yuk weather condition,
and stand in it for hours.
Why would anyone do this, you ask?
And I answer:
Because it is awesome!
Like, why you fly to cities far away,
and take every means of transportation other than hovercraft -
(Note: That would be so cool, a hovercraft?
Please someone get on that.
Also, I would like a time machine.
So I can see shows that I have missed.)
The music, the overall vibe (minus the doofuses),
hanging out with Bestest Music Friend Ever K,
as well as other music fanatics all packed together like sardines?
All those people (minus the doofuses),
plus all that music?
Rules.
But on We Are Not Messing Around Day,
We Do Not Mess Around.
Meaning,
we have our game plan
(In this case, Broken Bells, Jack White),
And we settle in,
as close as we can get,
to a scalding hot barrier,
the best way to hold a spot for hours.
Because we heart these bands times a trillion,
and want to see them up close.
And we wait, interspersed by crazy good music.
Which rules.
And then we lurch like zombies out of the park.
Happy, sated with awesomeness zombies.
3. Day Three:
This is the day after Day Two.
In Which We Were Not Messing Around.
Day Three starts a little slower.
Groggier.
Gentler.
We have brunch on Day Three.
We mosey over to the show, have a blast,
and do not voluntarily shut ourselves into metal, grated corners all day.
Is more mellow.
Although actually,
I did decide I needed to be on the barrier for Vampire Weekend,
so I take that back.
But still.
Tangent Over!
The reason I went off on that tangent?
In hunting through the photos I took from the festival,
I can tell which day is which,
because of my outfit.
Which included?
Lucky Green Shirt !!!!
(Note: I love my Lucky Green Shirt.
It was acquired for me by awesome friend hunting the Earth for it,
after I saw it and did not buy it,
but then wanted it,
and tragedy -
it was gone from every store ever ever,
and I would not stop pitching a fit,
and my awesome friend magically found one,
from Mars or something,
and it is my lucky shirt. )
I wore Lucky Green Shirt on We Are Not Messing Around Day Two of the music festival.
For good luck,
plus also I love that shirt.
So now I can remember who we saw that day!
Based upon the following evidence:
Me, and Lucky Green Shirt,
worn as talisman,
so we would get excellent barrier spot for We Are Not Messing Around,
Where Are Broken Bells and our sunblock? afternoon.
You can see by the fact that I am wedged into a corner of barrier that the shirt,
and our strategy, is working!!
Because look where we were not!
We were SO not in the middle of those people,
far away from scalding hot barrier of excellent music coming soon.
And I am apparently feeling very smug about that,
given the cat who ate the canary expression I have on,
along with my Lucky Green Shirt.
But here is why I was so pleased with myself:
Broken Bells!
Playing October, I love that song!
I love them.
Sigh.
Bestest Music Friend K is brilliant strategist,
with minor assist from my Lucky Green Shirt.
And I know the picture below is of waiting for more awesome music,
in that same spot by the scalding barrier on the same day,
due to brilliant deductive sartorial analysis:
Since I am a terrible photographer on the best of days,
you can barely see Lucky Green Shirt,
but that was during super sunny, hot,
smooshed wait for The Strokes.
This is a new friend we made, she was with her dad,
who was making sure she was hydrated and happy. (She was.)
It was cool to see a dad and daughter spending quality time,
smooshed in the heat at a music festival.
That was adorable.
It is nice when the people you are smooshed with are as cool and friendly as they were.
And I know this is pre-The Strokes playing,
because that was a very enthusiastic crowd,
some of whom got heat stroke or whatever,
and had to be handed overhead to security,
and we'd been at our barrier spot a good while -
(And were not budging.
Jack White was coming up, you could not pry us off that barrier),
and I was visibly a hot mess,
in my Lucky Green Shirt.
Ack.
I am kind of regretting not deleting that picture,
but it is evidence of what day it was.
Lucky Green Shirt, total wreck me.
But still happy because?
Jack White!!!!
Who was fabulously insanely good.
I have no photos of that,
because he doesn't like cell phones at shows and we were so close!!!
(Strategy! Perseverance! Brilliant Friend K! Lucky Green Shirt!)
Even without proof (though you can YouTube it or hear live feed somewhere),
it ruled.
And all was well.
Look at that charming, fairy lights and happy crowd scene.
Behind us!
Because We Were Not Messing Around.
But also we had a total blast and saw many, excellent and fabulous bands.
I can't go into all of that, though,
because I think my phone either died,
or I can't tell what I was wearing,
so I am not an unimpeachable witness.
